Versatile ikan Production Monitors

When considering monitors, you will notice that ikan offers a wide variety of units with different feature sets to aid you in your production. In this article, we will look at three of the monitors that ikan offers: the D12, VH7i, VX7c, providing you with an introduction to each monitor's capabilities and uses.

Let's start with the ikan D12 monitor, a production monitor that has a place both in the field and studio. It features an 11.6" IPS LCD panel with 1920 x 1080 resolution, allowing you to see the entire frame of Full HD material without any scaling artifacts. The monitor's size makes it more suited as a desk- or cart-mounted unit, rather than an on-camera monitor. The IPS panel provides a 178-degree viewing angle and, combined with the screen size, will probably result in less of a crush around the monitor when viewing the footage. The monitor features HDMI and 3G-SDI inputs that auto detect and display HD and SD signals, as well as NTSC, PAL, and SECAM color systems. Although it won't cross-convert signals, both the HDMI and SDI inputs are loop-through, allowing you to integrate this monitor into HDMI or SDI workflows easily.

The 11.6" screen provides far more real estate to evaluate your image than a 7" monitor, and the three-times zoom feature is a valuable function, allowing you to “punch” in on a portion of your image to check parts of the frame, so there are no surprises when screening your footage on a big screen. Featuring peaking, false color, and ikan's exclusive clip guides (an extension of False Color), the D12 is well suited as a camera confidence monitor, even if it is a little large for some to use directly on-camera. Four user-assignable function buttons on the front provide access to frequently used menu settings, saving you time and frustration. The monitor can sit on a desk or be mounted using the threaded mounting holes on the removable desk stand. It is powered via a Coax power connector or mini 4-pin XLR, with an optional V-Mount and Anton Bauer Gold Mount battery plates available separately.

Moving on to monitors more suited for on-camera use, the ikan VX7c is an advanced monitor with an IPS screen that features 1280 x 800 resolution, which can display 720p signals natively and scales to display 1080p signals. An important feature to note is that the monitor cross-converts between HDMI and SDI, which means HDMI into SDI out, and SDI in to HDMI out. This allows you to use the monitor in either an SDI or HDMI workflow, or to convert from one workflow to another without having to add another piece of equipment to your package. It provides the features and tools you would expect to find in an on-camera monitor including: peaking, false color, clip guides, histogram, movable 1-to-1 pixel display, a dual tally system, 1/4"-20 threaded mounting holes, and interchangeable battery plates for many popular battery types.

The ikan VH7i is similar to the VX7c monitor, although it lacks an SDI input/output and therefore can’t cross-convert HDMI/SDI. It does, however, feature a still image compare, allowing you to freeze and display a frame of your input video on the right-hand side of the screen, while the left side of the screen displays the live video signal. Although the monitor lacks a tally display, it does provide the same display tools found on the VX7c: peaking, false color, clip guides, and movable 1-to-1 pixel for examining your image without scaling artifacts. It also features 1/4"-20 threaded mounting holes and interchangeable battery plates, making this monitor a fine choice for on-camera monitoring. This model is slim and compact, yet still has looping HDMI and 1280 x 800 resolution and it costs much less than any 7" 1280 x 800 monitors on the market.

I hope you found this introduction to a few of the monitors offered by ikan to be useful. For more information, stop by the B&H SuperStore in New York, speak with a sales professional on the telephone at 1-800-606-6969 or contact us online via Live Chat.